Patty and Mother and Father and Grandmother all asked these questions over and over and over. But not one of them guessed the answer, though they tried again and again.
And now I will tell you what had happened to Polly Perkins.
CHAPTER III
POLLY PERKINS GOES ON A JOURNEY
While Patty was watching from the window all up and down the long city street, hoping that every passing wagon or automobile would stop at her door with Polly Perkins, what was Polly herself doing all this time?
To begin at the beginning, there is no doubt that Polly was disappointed not to be carried home in Patty’s arms.
‘I would like to see a little of the world,’ thought Polly, when she heard how she was to make the journey, ‘and I would like to ride on the train that Patty talks about. I will be as good as gold, and then perhaps Patty will always take me with her when she goes traveling. Who knows?’
So when Polly saw the rainy day and heard Grandmother plan to send her home in a box, Polly couldn’t help being disappointed, though of course she didn’t show it in the least. She smiled as sweetly as ever when Patty wrapped her in the pink-and-blue tufted coverlet and kissed her good-bye. And though she wanted dreadfully to give the cover of the box just one gentle kick with her pretty brown slipper, to work off a little of her disappointment as it were, still Polly said to herself,
‘No, I won’t kick the box, for I know Patty wouldn’t like it. And I want to please Patty in every way I can.’
For Polly had grown to love Patty in the short time she had lived with her, and she believed that Patty was the very best mother that ever a dolly could have.
‘She might leave me out all night in the grass,’ thought wise little Polly. ‘She might stick pins into me, or pull my hair, or drop me down the well. But she never, never does. Oh, I am glad that Patty is my mother.’